NSAC: Alistair Overeem has little chance of being licensed early

Keith Kizer said today that Alistair Overeem hasn’t contacted him to appear at a Aug. 24 Nevada State Athetic Commission meeting, nor does he know how the fighter could given his current licensing situation.

“Not that I’m aware of,” the NSAC Executive Director today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I’ve talked to people at the UFC, and they have no idea what he’s talking about.”

During an appearance Thursday on Spike TV’s “MMA Uncensored Live,” Overeem said he’ll try to get licensed in Nevada before he’s eligible to reapply. But Kizer gave that possibility little chance.

“The regulation indicates that you can’t file an application until that timeframe is up,” he said. “There’s nothing for a commission to put on an agenda. You can’t vote on an application that has yet to be filed. There’s no such door to walk through.”

Overeem can reapply for a license on Dec. 27, which is nine months from the date he took, and failed, a pre-fight drug test for UFC 146. Overeem was flagged when his test revealed a 14-to-1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio, more than twice the 6-to-1 ratio allowed by the NSAC (and well over the 4-to-1 limit most regulatory bodies allow).

The UFC subsequently removed Overeem from a title fight with champion Junior Dos Santos and slotted in Frank Mir, who lost by second-round TKO in the May event’s headliner.

In an appeal hearing held in April, Overeem told the NSAC that a vitamin injection he received contained a steroid and caused his positive test. But the commission ultimately denied his application to fight in the state and said he couldn’t reapply until Dec. 27.

Overeem announced in June that he would undergo random drug testing to clear his name.

Kizer said today that Overeem’s testing results have been passed to him directly by the fighter and from by the UFC, calling them “nice.” But he clarified that they wouldn’t be taken into consideration until the fighter is again eligible to apply for a license.

“It’s better than them being positive, but I’m not sure how relevant they are,” he said. “That would be up to the commissioners to decide. I appreciate the effort.”

Kizer said there have been cases in which the commission has waived certain regulations, such as in “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, where weigh-ins aren’t public and fights are considered exhibition bouts and not professional.

In Overeem’s case, however, he didn’t think such a waiver applied because the regulations are clear on when he’s eligible to reapply.

“The commission does have a lot of discretion on licensing matters, and there may be situations where the commission can give some sort of waiver,” Kizer said. “But I don’t see it being applicable here, and even if it was applicable, I’m not sure this is the case they’d want to grant leniency on.”

Kizer also noted that as executive director, he has the power to administratively grant Overeem a license, but wouldn’t do so.

“The UFC are pretty serious about anabolic-agent usage,” he said. “There’s a lot of idiots in the press and on the message boards who want to argue otherwise, but in my dealings with them, they’ve been very anti-[performance-enhancing drug] and been very supportive of the commission when we catch such people. I’d be very surprised if they would be in favor of this.”

Speculation about a possible Overeem return heated up when UFC President Dana White told reporters that Dos Santos had requested a fight with the ex-Strikeforce champ instead of ex-champ Cain Velasquez, who earned a No. 1 contender’s spot at UFC 146 with a win over Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta then confirmed the promotion was targeting Dos Santos against an unnamed opponent for an end-of-the-year pay-per-view event likely to take place Dec. 29 in Las Vegas.

Prior to Overeem’s announcement on Thursday, the hulking heavyweight told MMAjunkie.com that Dos Santos was afraid to fight him.

“It looks like Overeem is playing Junior pretty well here,” Kizer said. “That’s between them. But I don’t expect the UFC to reward Overeem with a title fight, as opposed to guys like Cain, who have been doing it the right way.”

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